Here's a little something I wrote, with a little bit of help from the lovely lot at Ramarketing about Christmas Parties!
How to plan the perfect
festive party…
Whether
you’ve been put in charge of planning your work Christmas party or have decided
to organise a small gathering of your closest family and friends to celebrate
the festive season, there are certain things that must be considered in order
to execute the perfect party.
“Location, location, location…”
The
most crucial factors when planning your event, Christmas or otherwise, are the
location and the venue. If you have an idea of how many guests will be
attending and where they will be travelling from this is a fantastic starting
point to booking your venue. Things to consider for this are: is there
accommodation at the venue i.e. a hotel? Is there parking? Is there a
wheelchair lift? Can you sample the menu beforehand? Does it make gluten free
Christmas dinners? Is there a vegetarian option? Does everyone want a Christmas
dinner or would a Spanish fiesta work better? You really need to cover all
bases at the very beginning and try and envisage every possible ‘worst case
scenario’ to save anything going wrong at the eleventh hour. You wouldn’t want
anyone turning up to find they couldn’t park directly outside and having to
walk for miles in the December cold.
Christmas parties are one of the few
times where you could have a huge variety of ages and personalities in one
room. The key to picking your venue is to make sure everyone would feel
comfortable there. For example, the over 60s would probably feel a little out
of place in a nightclub or a warehouse rave. So, try and choose somewhere that
caters for all of your guests, if you know that there will be that diversity
amongst your guests. The most stress-free way to ensure this is to work with
the larger venues such as As You Like It in Jesmond or city centre hotels e.g. The
Vermont. Most will have function rooms for various sized groups, be accessible
for guests of all abilities and will provide themed menus.
Alternatively, if you’re planning a more intimate event,
why not pick something really niche to give them the best Christmas experience ever?
Something different makes the night far more memorable.
“Tick tock...”
Okay, so unless you’re a professional
party planner you’re not likely to be thinking of Christmas parties until the
first snowflake arrives. Unfortunately, the best Christmas dates within venues
become booked up extremely quickly, so the sooner you can confirm a date the
better, but chances are you will need to be flexible to cater for your guests
and the availability of the venue. Ideally you should be in talks with your
desired venue in September. And don’t panic if the venue you had wanted isn’t
available, there will be others. At AMV
we regularly help panicked customers when the appointed “Christmas event
planner” simply can’t cope anymore; by the time the event arrives all of the
initial stress is forgotten about.
As you can imagine an event, no
matter what size, takes (or should take) a lot of time in planning and
preparation. If you don’t have the time then delegate to somebody who does or
outsource.
“Show
me the money…”
Best advice – calculate the very top
budget by getting quotes for everything you want then assess in order of
importance. Some things will have to be sacrificed (unless money isn’t an
issue) but remember within this industry most things are negotiable so spend
time talking with suppliers and entertainers to get the best price for what you
want, however, take care not to skimp on factors like food, venue and all those
special little extras that will make your party a night to remember.
Eat,
drink and be merry…
Because Christmas only comes around
once a year, adding Christmas themed extras are a must. An easy and cost-effective way to do this is by
focusing on the drinks menu, mulled wine and eggnog are great winter warmers
and provide a nice start the event, after that, adding some Christmas themed
cocktails to the bar is a good idea. To give the party that real sense of
occasion, serve some bubbly. To add that Christmas touch to fizz, place
cranberries in the glass before pouring instead of a summer berry such as a
strawberry and serve it with fresh mistletoe and a candy cane as a keepsake and
conversation starter.
We can’t talk about Christmas
and not mention food glorious food. The North East is bustling with fantastic,
restaurants and catering companies that serve locally sourced food, most of
which will work with you to develop the perfect menu for your guests. As
previously mentioned try and get everybody’s dietary requirements early. You
should try and cater for everyone’s taste buds and not just serve a bog
standard vegetarian lasagne for the veggies. Be creative and most of all ensure
it’s delicious for all. You don’t have to serve a traditional turkey dinner
with all of the trimmings either, why not send a quick cuisine survey out to
your guests prior to the event to see what they would like to eat? You could be
surprised by the results and your guests will feel much more integral to the
event itself, resulting in them really wanting to come.
“If music be the food of love…”
Music
is also very high on the list of priorities – especially at Christmas time,
yes, the carols and Christmas classics will make an appearance but you should
also mix it up with other popular music as well. A great way to change things
up is by booking a live cover band such as the leading North East band
Livewire. This adds excitement, spontaneity and will really get your guests in
the Christmas spirit, and after all it’s the guests that make a party! Having a
dance floor is highly recommended as it makes it clear where the dancing is to
happen, leaving those who don’t want to partake in ‘The Macarena’ at a safe
distance in the seated dining area.
Prior to the band’s performance
and perhaps in-between their sets, it’s always good to provide your guests with
an alternative form of entertainment. By doing this you can break the ice
between any guests who may not know each other, it creates a new talking point
and also adds to the experience of your party. Entertainment that works at this
kind of event includes magicians, caricaturists, dancers, stilt walkers, photo
booths, and aerial performers. There is
a huge amount of weird and wonderful performers who can keep the mood on a high
and make the experience for your guests even more memorable.
Frankie
says…
After putting in all the work of
planning your perfect Christmas party, the most important thing to do is for
you to relax and enjoy yourself. If you’re not having fun, then your guests
probably aren’t either. The best way to ensure your enjoyment is to plan, plan,
plan, if every ‘I’ has been dotted and every ‘T’ crossed, this should make for a
stress-free evening. If you don’t have time to plan everything yourself, what
with buying Christmas presents, party outfits and your award-winning turkey, then
it could be worth speaking to a professional.
Because it's Christmas, here's some pictures of a couple of Christmas dogs. Everyone loves a dressed up doggy (I promise you we all love dogs at AMV, and they're both very happy dogs who do love a bit of dressing up)!
